Chocolate sauce is a fairly simple condiment. It’s basically three ingredients. Cocoa powder, a sweetener, and water. Of course, there will be variations, but in its purest, most basic form, chocolate sauce is just chocolate that you can pour. Chocolate sauce comes in many different consistencies. It can be thin and sauce-like to thick and super viscous like hot fudge. It is usually added to desserts like cake, ice cream, milk, or fruits.
Chocolate Sauce Trivia
- In the cult classic “Psycho,” chocolate sauce was used to simulate blood since it was easy to swallow, easy to clean, and of course, really tasty.
- The cacao bean, from which chocolate is made from, is actually a vegetable seed. So if anyone tells you you’re drizzling too much chocolate syrup on your ice cream, tell them you’re just adding more vegetables to your diet.
- Chocolate syrup was first used by doctors and pharmacists to mask the bitter taste of medication.
- The use of chocolate syrup in the medical world ended when Hershey’s, Bosco, and other commercial chocolate makers started to market chocolate syrup for home consumption.
- Coconut oil or any other flavor neural oil can be emulsified with chocolate syrup to make a syrup that forms a “shell” when poured on ice cream.
Chocolate Sauce Buying Guide
The first instinct of anyone in the market for chocolate sauce would be to just grab the closest one on the shelf, thinking that they’re all alike anyway. Well, in a sense that’s true. A lot of “generic” chocolate syrup brands nowadays are produced in mega factories or by co-packers who just take recipes and package them on behalf of business owners.
Of course, the more famous chocolate brands will have their own factories to produce their own chocolate sauce, but their products can be full of unwholesome things that may taste great, can cause some long-term health issues down the line. We’ll go over those additives later on in this article.
So now that most large-scale chocolate sauce products are out, how does one buy good chocolate sauce? Well, the answer is not as complicated as you think. There are a lot of chocolatiers and artisan chocolate sauce producers that make chocolate sauce sourced from fair-trade cocoa which is grown to organic standards. Not only that, but these products are also free from chemicals and additives since they’re made in small batches and don’t need to spend months on end in a warehouse somewhere or on supermarket shelves. So the next time you’re in the mood for a good chocolate sauce, visit your local chocolatier or farmers’ market and avoid all the issues that come with commercially produced chocolate sauce.
Chocolate Sauce Production & Farming in Texas
In Texas, there are dozens upon dozens of chocolatiers all around the state producing artisan chocolate and chocolate sauce. In fact, Texas is home to some of the most famous chocolate confectioneries around the country. There’s even a road trip that features seven top chocolatiers around the state. If you can’t find any ready-made chocolate sauce from your local chocolatier, don’t worry, just get some regular milk or dark chocolate and we’ll give you a good way to turn that chocolate into homemade chocolate sauce down below.
You can also check out your local farmers’ markets to see if any artisan chocolate producers have set up shop. If there are any, they’ll probably have a few jars of chocolate sauce available, and if not, you can probably place an order for some to be made/delivered on the day that you need it.
Pesticides, Additives, and Chemicals:
We’ve spent some time looking at the ingredients tab of many of the top chocolate sauce brands around the country and we’ve made a list of chemicals, additives, and preservatives that commercial producers use to make their chocolate sauce last longer on store shelves and give them a pleasing flavor.
- High fructose corn syrup and corn syrup – Everyone knew this was coming. This sweetener is very cheap and very sweet. This ingredient has been linked to many diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
- Potassium Sorbate – This is a fairly common preservative in processed food.
- Mono and diglycerides – This is an emulsifier used to keep the chocolate sauce from separating.
- Polysorbate 60 – This is another emulsifier
Another issue that isn’t related to additives when it comes to chocolate and chocolate sauce is the sourcing of the cocoa. Cocoa sourcing has been a big issue due to the exploitative nature of how cocoa is planted and sourced in other countries like Africa. This is another reason why it is recommended to get your chocolate sauce from local producers that source fair-trade cocoa.
Packaging:
Commercial chocolate sauce is usually packed in squeeze bottles for easier application. Artisan chocolate sauce, on the other hand, is usually packed in glass bottles and jars.
Enjoying Chocolate Sauces
Chocolate sauce is great on everything! I’m serious, if you love chocolate sauce as much as us, then chocolate sauce will be your condiment of choice. You can put it on ice cream, milk, fruit, souffles, cakes, coffee, crepes, ice cream (I think we already said ice cream, but it’s so good we had to list it twice).
Storage:
For commercial chocolate sauce, refer to the instructions on the packaging. For artisanal chocolate sauce or for homemade chocolate sauce, store in the fridge for up to two weeks, and if it seizes up, just warm it up in the microwave or over a stove.
Make Your Own Chocolate Sauce:
We did mention earlier that you can get chocolate from your local chocolatier and here’s a quick two-ingredient chocolate sauce.
Ingredients:
Chocolate of your choice
Milk or Heavy Cream, 40ml for every 40 grams of chocolate or 1:1
Step 1:
Heat the milk in a small saucepan or in the microwave until hot.
Step 2:
Stir in the chocolate until melted. If still lumpy, continue to heat in the microwave or stove for a few more seconds, keep stirring until the chocolate has fully melted.
Note: If it seizes up, then simply reheat until runny again. If it’s too thick, then add a little bit more milk.
